Garter.



A. T. VAN ALSVTVYN.

GAMER; APPLICATION FlLED MA'Y15. I916 Patented Aug. 19, 1919.

gnuenfoz 25972 7. 1672 flZsz yrz am v UNITED STATES ALBERT T. VANALSTYN, 0F GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

GARTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 19, 1919.

Application filed May 15, 1916. Serial No. 97,560.

Toall whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT T. VAN ALsTYN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garters,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in garters of that type which aremost generally worn by the male sex and encircle the leg just below theknee and attach to theupper end of the sock to hold the latter inposition on the wearers leg. 4

One object of the present invention resides in providing, a garterwhich, by reason of its simple construction, is extremely inexpensive toproduce in small or large quantities, the simplicity residing in thefact that the garter is formed of a single holding length of material.

A. further object is to provide a garter which is so constructed that,when in use, the holding tension is distributed from one end of thelength of material to the other.

Another object resides in providing a garter comprising a. single lengthor strip of material which, when in use, has a swivel connection at thatpoint where the strip crosses itself, thus fOIl'ning a fixed lengthwhich encircles the leg, thereby preventing sagging; and also thisarrangement provides a swivel action for the attaching ends, so thatthey may be attached to the hose close together or as far apart as maybe desirable without affecting, in any way, the band around the leg.

I am aware that it is-generally old and well-known to form a garter of asingle strip of material which encircles the leg and inwhich the endsare crossed and attached to the sock or the like to hold the sock andalso to maintain the garter strip at tile proper tension around the leg.Howeve such garters have been provided, at

the location where the ends cross, with.

means which permits working sliding adjustment of the overlying endswhich is highly unsuccessful due to the fact that the adjustment of thetension about the leg is ever changing and unsatisfactory and permitssagging, and also because of the wear due to the sliding action betweenthe crossed ends at the point of crossing.

Therefore, with the above and other objects in view, I will now proceedto describe a specific embodiment of my invention which I have shown byway of illustration in the annexed drawing forming a part of thisspecification and wherein:

Figure 1 is a view, in perspective, of the garter as applied'to the legfor the purpose of sup-porting a sock.

Fig. 2 isv a plan View of the crossed ends showing, diagrammatically,the relative positions which they may assume, when the garter is worn,due to the swivel connection.

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of the garter removed from the leg; and

Fig. 4 is a detail View of one type of swivel connection, incross-section on the line of 2.

Fig. 5 is a view, in perspective, showing the garter with the attachingends affixed to the garment in close relation relative to each other,which in no way affects the length of the band around the leg.

In detail:

The garter, as shown, comprises a single length of material designatedas a whole by A, and comprising the leg encircling por tion 1' and theattaching ends 2 and. 3.

Each of theattaching ends2 and 3 is provided with a garment supporterclasp 4 and 5, respectively, the button and loop type being shown in theillustration, though, in so far as the present invention is concernedany type may be used.

If desired, either the ends '2 and 3 or the leg encircling portion 1 maybe constructed to provide for adjustment in any of the usual ways.

At the juncture of the attaching end 2 with the leg' encircling portion1 I provide a snap socket 6 which forms one-half of the separable swivelfastener B and co-acts with the head 7 at the juncture of the legencircling portion 1 with the attaching end 3, and, when the garter isin use serves to" hold the ends 2' and 3 in crossed relation, at thesame time permitting, by reason of its swivel construction, therequisite pivotal adjusting movement.

In applying the garter, as shown in Fig. 1, to the leg, the legencircling portion 1 is passed back of the calf of the leg C and theattaching ends are brought forwardly and crossed as shown and theconnection B is snapped to closed relation. and thus a complete band ofwell defined length is formed about the leg. The attaching ends 2 and 3are then secured to the sock D by means of their respective fasteners 4and 5 and it will be found that the garter will stay in place andsecurely hold the sock from sagging.

The garter may also be applied by first attaching one end of the garterto the hose and then winding the garter around the leg and crossing theremaining end over the attached end and afiixing said remaining end tothe hose at any desired location, then connect the two parts of theswivel attachment B together, thereby forming a complete band around theleg, which aside from elasticity in an elastic garter, has a definitelength which will prevent undue sagging of the garter.

It is evident that the leg encircling portion 1 may, if desirable, bemade of elastic webbing and the attaching ends 2 and 3 of inelasticwebbing; or, the whole length may be made of elastic or inelasticwebbing; or, again, the attaching ends may be made'of elastic webbingand the leg encircling portion 1 may be inelastic. Also, any means ofproviding for adjustment may be embodied as, for instance, one or moreof the swivel separable fasteners B or an adjusting slide of any type.

While, in the foregoing description and in the drawing, I have set fortha specific embodiment of the present invention, it is nevertheless to beunderstood that, in practising this invention, I may have recourse tosuch modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hose supporter comprising in combi- I nation a band adapted tosurround the leg of the wearer with its end portions crossed, detachablemeans for uniting the two ends at their intersection in such manner asto prevent relative bodily movement while permitting pivotal movementand a clasp at each of the ends adapted to engage the hose at spacedpoints.

2. A garter comprising a strip of webbing encircling the leg andcrossed, the two ends adjustment of the attaching ends without affectingthe predetermined normal length of the portion encircling the leg.

4. A garter comprising a strip of webbing encircling the leg andcrossed, the two ends thereof being formed of elastic and attaching tothe garment to be supported, and swivel means connecting the strip atthe crossing point to permit adjustment of the attaching ends withoutaffecting the predetermined normal length of the portion en circling theleg.

5. A garter comprising a strip of webbing encircling the leg andcrossed, the two ends thereof attaching to the garment to be supported,and separable swivel means connecting the strip at the crossing point topermit adjustment of the attaching ends without affecting the length ofthe portion encircling the leg.

6. A garter comprising a strip of webbing wrapped once around the limband crossed, swivel means connecting the two ends of the strip at thepoint of crossing to form a complete band around the limb, said endsbeing, extended beyond the swivel connection, and a garment attachingmeans secured to each end.

7. garter comprising a strip of webbing wrapped once around the limb andcrossed, separable swivel means connecting the two ends of the strip atthe point of crossing to form a complete band around the limb, said endsbeing extended beyond the said connection, and a garment attaching meanssecured to each end.

8. A garter comprising a strip of webbing wrapped once around the limband crossed, separable swivel means connecting the two ends at the pointof crossing to form a complete band around the limb, elastic extensionsforming a continuation of each end of said strip, and a garmentattaching means secured to each extension.

9. A garter comprising a strip of webbing encircling the leg andcrossed, the ends thereof attaching t the garment to be supported, and apivotal connection having a fixed location with respect to the attachingends and the portion of strip encirclin the leg to permit stretching ofthe attac ing elilids without affecting the length encircling t e leg. I

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

ALBERT T. VAN ALSTYN. Witnesses:

LEON T. POND, WM. W. WILLIAMS.

